artist statement

The opposing tension and breadth of many human characteristics are shared by animals — strength/fragility, stability/flight, grace/boldness, aggression/submission. I am inspired by their life expression of grace, strength, beauty and raw sensuality. By exploring the architecture of animal's heads and their bodies with glass, steel and other materials, I bring them into our lives and our shared emotional states. The sculptures are extensions of ourselves.

As a child I experienced the tension of opposing worlds — the rough rawness of the South Chicago steel mills, the stark beauty of Chicago’s architecture, and the sensuality of animals portrayed in the halls of taxidermy in Chicago’s Museum of Natural History. I see myself strongly attracted both by man’s industrial mastering of materials and by the untouched nature of the Southwest, my present home.